COVENTRY charity Feed the Hungry is appealing for people to donate towards disaster relief efforts following the recent double earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
The charity is collecting aid donations ahead of planned shipments to the earthquake zones in the first week of March, including food, hygiene products, blankets, camping equipment and warm clothing.
The devastating quakes on Monday, February 6 have seen over 41,000 people lose their lives.
Feed the Hungry CEO Gwyn Williams was travelling to Bucharest as part of the charity’s latest mercy mission to support Ukrainian refugees when the earthquake first hit.
He said: “As we were travelling to Bucharest early on Monday morning to arrange delivery of aid to Ismail in Ukraine, we never imagined that our plans for the week would take a dramatic turn.
“The second powerful earthquake struck just as our emergency aid relief team arrived in Bucharest.
“As we journeyed to the warehouse straight from the airport we were already planning our charity’s response to this tragedy, connecting to the warehouse facilities run by our partner organisation Bread of Life, to see what was
immediately available for diversion to Turkey – blankets, sleeping bags, tents, hygiene and food were all ready to roll.
“Our attention to the needs of the people of Ukraine did not diminish – but now we need to replenish our resources as quickly as possible.”
Gwyn and his team have been busy drawing up plans to access the affected areas in Turkey, and are set to travel over there in the next couple of weeks to further assess the level of response needed.
Items can be dropped off at Feed The Hungry’s Warehouse on Progress Way every Monday to Friday between midday and 4pm.
Supplies can also be delivered to their warehouse on Nutts Lane, Hinckley on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9:30am to 12:30pm.
Visit https://feedthehungry.org.uk/turkey-syria-earthquake-relief/ for more information.
